Thirteen Nights of Marvel Frights: Ultimate Spider-Man: Blade and the Howling Commandos

 

For our Hallloween series Thirteen Nights of Marvel Frights, I watched the two episode Halloween special from the animated Ultimate Spider-Man series. These episodes highlight Spider-Man and his teen team facing off with Dracula (you read that right) and his army of shadow vampires. The team are joined by a reluctant day walker, Blade, and Nick Fury’s supernatural team of monsters. Known as The Howling Commandos, the team consists of Marvel’s version of classic Universal Monsters: Werewolf By Night, The Monster of Frankenstein, The Living Mummy, and The Man-Thing. While made for kids, the dialogue is crisp and funny and it is great seeing the Marvel Monsters getting together to kick vampires butt. A fun Halloween watch to enjoy with the kids!

Streaming now on Disney+

Thirteen Nights of Marvel Frights: Man-Thing

To kick off our Halloween series exploring Marvel monsters and horror coded films I chose to start at the bottom (of the swamp.) Back in 2005 before the MCU, Marvel film projects were spread across a wide range of studios. Lion’s Gate, responsible for the maligned Punisher films, attempted to bring one of Stan Lee’s most iconic monsters to the screen with Man-Thing. In the original comics, Dr. Ted Sallis injects himself with a prototype super soldier serum at his lab in a magical Florida swamp and gets trapped in the muck thus merging is body with the swamp creating a nearly mindless creature made of man and vegetation. The character goes on to team up with Marvel heroes to do good. The major flaw in this film is that Director Brett Leonard retcons the Man-Thing as a Seminole spirit rampaging against an oil company drilling in the sacred dark water bog. For an avenging spirit he pretty much kills indiscriminately both the good guys and bad, loosing any semblance of heroism.  Instead he just shoves branches up and into anything that walks (seriously, that’s how he kills.) 

Originally slated for the big screen, the production was smartly dumped onto the SYFY channel. There was a limited international theatrical release where it promptly bombed. It’s no wonder due to the low budget effects, poor creature design, and wooden acting. While the campiness of DC’s Swamp Thing propelled it to 80’s monster gold, there is hardly any humor in this film which takes itself too seriously. Most surprising is that both Stan Lee and Kevin Feige’s involved as Executive Producers did nothing to save it. The score by Roger Mason is serviceable and helps to elevate a few scenes. The swamp location is sufficiently creepy although curiously devoid of any alligators or snakes. A cacophony of swamp animal noises attempts to fill in for the real things. I guess animal handlers weren’t in the budget. Honestly not a lot was, and the result is a half hearted effort to bring one of my favorite Marvel monsters to the screen. Good thing he cameos in Werewolf by Night years later as the lovable pile of muck we all know. 

Real Steel Review

 I watched Real Steel to try and get a feel for Shawn Levy’s directorial style before Starfighter comes out. Also I’ve had this one on my personal watchlist for a while. Throughout the over two hour runtime, I never felt like the film dragged.  Adapting a Richard Matheson story to the screen isn’t always easy (see What Dreams May Come and I Am Legend) but screenwriter John Gatins infuses the action with enough heart to keep things moving. While the story owes much to 1979’s The Champ, the relationship between Hugh Jackman’s washed up boxer/roboboxer and his estranged son genuinely moved me. 

With both Spielberg and Zemekis as executive producers and backed up by the combined powerhouses of Amblin and Disney, I’m surprised that this film didn’t do better.  I vaguely remember that the marketing wasn’t especially memorable. Certainly not enough to get butts in theater seats. The robot effects are on par with Bay’s Transformers and coming out around the same time as the third installment, this film might have suffered from robot fatigue. While the film doesn’t set itself up for a sequel, it would’ve been cool to see a Rocky II style rematch between the two main robots. 

Alien Series Special Editions

 I have owned the Alien Quadrilogy/Ripley saga on multiple formats (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray) for decades and have never been motivated to pop in Alien 3. It was probably the disappointment of having watched it during the original theatrical run that soured me on a rewatch. The release of the Assembly Cut on HBO/Max combined with the knowledge of what an incredible Director Fincher became, led me to give this berated film another try. Coming in at thirty minutes longer than the studio butchered theatrical version, the Assembly Cut gives the characters more time to develop and the set designs to shine. The bleakness of penal colony planet has given way to a striking world clearly inspired by the German Expressionism of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and even David Lynch’s DUNE. Some great decisions were made in this version, including showing Ripley’s sacrificial fall omitting the chest buster.  Whereas the cast is a Who’s Who of British acting royalty, the standout characters are Charles S. Dutton and obviously the incredible Sigourney Weaver during the peak of her career. 

Alien 3 benefits from the contrast effect of lesser films later in the series with the exception of Alien: Covenant and Alien: Romulus. Alien Resurrection and AVP are pure 90’s cheese which stray far from the signature bleakness and hopelessness of the first three films. The Assembly Cut isn’t perfect with some pacing problems and mismatched score cues, but provides a degree of redemption for a much maligned entry in the Alien universe.

For Alien Resurrection I caught the extended cut on HBO Max, and honestly, I don’t remember enough about the theatrical version to say if it’s an improvement. Critical consensus says no. This one is a guilty pleasure. Sure the swimming CGI alien is wonky, but Ripley as a kick-butt Alien Terminator? Yes, please!

TRON Ares Review

 “Ready? Because there’s no going back.” 

That quote by Jeff Bridges’ Flynn avatar may be sadly prophetic based on the box office performance of Disney’s latest entry in the TRON saga. With a relatively weak opening, TRON Ares may be the last visit to The Grid, at least in theaters. This hits harder because all of the films in the trilogy are better seen on the big screen. In order to get the best experience, I sprung for an IMAX Laser 3D ticket like I did for TRON:Legacy back in 2010. This decision is based on the fact that TRON films have historically been effects and score driven spectacles with story as an afterthought. This is what one should expect going in. 

While the original 1982 lightly explored a quasi-religious relationship between programs and their users, and the 2010 film touched on loss and betrayal, TRON Ares digs a little deeper into heavy philosophical issues. Tackling heavy topics like mortality, morality, and unchecked AI, director Joachim Rønning takes some big swings attempting to bring relevance and immediacy to the TRON universe. The challenge is balancing high concept and the spectacle which another Jared Leto film, Blade Runner 2049, attempted to a more successful degree than this film. TRON Ares is definitely darker and grittier than the previous two films with the Nine Inch Nails score driving the point home and is the first TRON film to feature the death of a human character. 

Ultimately TRON Ares is a fun, visually striking film that brings the electronic world into our own, which was alluded to in the previous film, now fully realized. No big jumps in technology in the last fifteen years, unlike the twenty-nine year gap from TRON to TRON:Legacy, resulting in a smoother transition to this latest release. Then there is the music. Of all popular film series, the TRON films have had the most varied yet consistently excellent scores, including by the Oscar winning team of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross performing as industrial powerhouse Nine Inch Nails. 

More than a series of action sequences (although there are plenty and they are exciting) and a cool soundtrack, TRON Ares is a valiant effort to bring some gravitas and deeper meaning to a film series better known for flash and spectacle and we are better for it. As a TRON fanatic since 1982, I am clearly biased and thankful for one more trip to The Grid, and that old school Lightcycle, are you kidding me?! 

PSA: stay for the mid-credit scene. If you don’t get it, ask a member of the TRON faithful. 

Dr. Syn, Alias The Scarecrow

 I watched the 1963 three part miniseries The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh as it aired on Walt Disney’s World of Color TV program. Although it was later released as a compressed feature length film, I was able to track down a clear copy of the original airing with introductions by Uncle Walt himself. The Scarecrow is the smuggling, Robin Hood-like alter ego of Vicar Dr. Syn played by the incredible Patrick McGoohan. Syn was a real life British hero to the poor under King George’s rule around the time of the American Revolution. The miniseries never drags on and kept me engaged the entire run. It’s unfortunate that the story didn’t continue, even though the original author Russel Thorndyke wrote more adventures for the rouge and his band of smugglers.

Escape to Witch Mountain 50th Anniversary Review

 After not seeing this Disney classic after 40 years during its repeated runs on HBO, I decided the 50th anniversary would be a good time to dust off the DVD. Top notch performances by legends Eddie Albert, Ray Miland, and Donald Pleasance and breakout performances by Kim Richards (my 70’s crush) and future “son of Kahn” Ike Eisenmann add to the fun. What makes this film stand out from typical Disney films of the time is a palpable and unsettling sense of dread throughout the story. As with all Disney films, there is a happy ending, but getting there takes going through some very dark themes including abandonment, manipulation, and betrayal. The effects department did what they could with the technology of the period which adds to the charm, especially the scene with the marionettes dancing on their own. This film is notable for Legend of  Hell House director John Hough relying on his horror chops and not shying away from some darker, more adult themes.